"In the jungle, the mighty jungle..."

Tuesday

I got up at 4:00 AM to leave for the airstrip to fly out by dawn. Jason Ottosen and I got dropped off in the village of Komako, where he is building a house. I could see the house from the airstrip, but it was still a twenty minute hike up a hill.  The elevation really shows on any form of physical activities, especially hiking. Bro. Jason said that I would be exhausted by the time we got there, and I thought he didn't know what he was talking about.  Turns out he did.  We we finally arrived at the cook house where we would be staying, I was entirely out of breath.  Bro. Jason just laughed and went on.  Right after we got our stuff placed in the hut/house, a lady came by with some bananas and some kau kau (a vegetable like a sweet potato, but no marshmallows or brown sugar). Jason translated for me and told me that she said she had walked over an hour and a half to bring this food because she heard that Jason was coming.  Later, we went to market, where all the village people bring their stuff they have to sell and sit it out on a blanket or the ground and try to sell it.  Jason and I had a contest to see who could buy the most with four Kina (K4), which is equivalent to around two American dollars.  Lets just say I need to work on my bartering skills. Jason was able to get a stick of sugar cane, a pineapple, a couple avocado, and some bananas all for only K4. I only got six banana's, but I only spent forty cents. I had to deal with the language barrier. (I also wasn't sure if any of the other food was clean enough to trust eating.) We walked back to the cook house and Asylia, the native pastor's wife, cooked my first authentic village meal.  We had kau kau (pronounced "cow cow") , field corn, two types of greens, taro, and cooking bananas.  The kau kau was surprisingly not that bad, and the corn was ok, but taro and greens were not good at all. I also tried sugar cane for the first time. You have to bite and shuck the outside, and chew the inside, all the while trying not to soak yourself in sugar water. I soaked a shirt with the juice and it turned to a sticky substance that reminded me of syrup. That night we got ready for bed and Jack, the native pastor, got out Uno cards. I soon found out the natives are very competitive.  Finally we got to bed around eight that night, and I drifted right off to sleep.

Wednesday

On Wednesday morning we found out that a rat had been in our hut the night before, and that really freaked me out!!! We tried several times, but never could catch the rat, which made an unwelcome entrance every night.  We got to go later that day and watch an elderly man make marita, a traditional PNG dish.  This is the only food that the men still make, and women are not allowed to even be around while they make it. I have no idea why, but it is considered a very masculine thing. The man cut up the fruit, crammed it down into bamboo, then cooked it over a fire.  Later, he squished it up (with his dirty hands!!), and that is what everyone dipped their food in. They gave us a special bowl before everyone started dipping, and I tasted it.  It wasn't as bad as Jason had told me it would be, but it is definitely a one time event.  That afternoon, we went to a "mu mu", a feast in Pidgin, because they finished the roof to Jason's wood shed.  It started to rain, so we moved inside where I tried most everything I hadn't, and then Jason and I had spaghetti cooked over an open fire. It was the best spaghetti I think I've ever eaten. Right after we ate, I had my first experience bathing in a river. It was more like get wet while wearing your clothes and try to get all the mud off you in the river. Jason stood guard at the road, so thankfully I didn't have an audience. We got back to the house and all the clothes dried before we had to turn in for bed.


Thursday

Jason gave a Pigin devotion this morning, and he translated the main points for me.  He was teaching about being a good servant, and used the passage where Jesus washed the disciples' feet. Then, we went out and marked post for Pastor Jack's house, which Jason is also paying for.  We got the corner posts marked and squared, and then marked all the post between.  That took most of the morning, and then it began to pour rain, so we had to go inside and sit for the rest of the day.  I took a nap, because I had been waking up around four every morning thanks to jet lag and the mouse.  Later, when I woke up, Jason was giving a man a file for his machete. The man was so thankful for it, because now he wouldn't have to spend time finding something to sharpen his machete with.  The man said thank you no less than thirty times.  It was such an humbling experience for me, because this man was nearly moved to tears with thankfulness for a file.  That was basically it for the rest of the day.

Friday

This morning, we woke up and had bananas for breakfast. Matt came and picked us up around eight, and we got back to "civilization". It's not real civilization, but after being in the bush, it's close enough for me!

I am so glad I agreed to go with Jason, because even though it was in some ways not fun, it was a great experience for me, and opened my eyes to how blessed I truly am. Those people have almost nothing but the shirt on their back and their machete.  It made me so happy and proud to be an American, and I cannot tell you how many times I have thanked God for that since I have been here!